


The Lucky Jumper

by Chocolatequeen



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Mutual Pining, Snowball Fight, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28376313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocolatequeen/pseuds/Chocolatequeen
Summary: At a famous winter festival, a special jumper gives the Doctor and Rose the push they need to move their relationship forward.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 10
Kudos: 112
Collections: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020





	The Lucky Jumper

Rose ran alongside the Doctor, trying to match his stride with her much shorter legs. It wasn’t easy to do that while she also watched out for slick patches of ice or snow on the pavement.

“Where are we going again?” she asked as they turned a corner. The only thing he’d told her before he’d pulled her out of the TARDIS was to put a warm coat on over her short-sleeved shirt.

“The Venusian Frost Fair!”

Rose scanned the street, taking in the festive banners hanging from the lampposts and the lights in the shop windows. “Like the ones they had on the Thames back in the 1800s?”

“Bigger! Oh, you won’t believe this winter festival—it covers multiple holidays and lasts all winter long. Cocoa and cider and wine and the best biscuits in the universe.”

“In the universe?” Rose laughed.

The Doctor stopped walking and looked down at her, his expression completely serious. “In the universe, Rose,” he said solemnly. “And I should know. I’ve checked.”

She laughed again. “All right, the best biscuits in the universe, according to the expert.”

“That’s right.”

As they got closer to the festival grounds, Rose noticed that more and more people seemed to be wearing… She blinked. “Doctor?”

“Yes, Rose?”

“Why is everyone wearing ugly Christmas jumpers?”

She rocked back on her heels and watched him take it in. He looked first in one direction, then his head swivelled and he checked the other direction.

Finally, he scratched at the back of his neck. “Um… maybe there was a contest today?” he suggested.

Rose pursed her lips. “Or maybe there’s a dress code you don’t know about?” she suggested, filling in the blanks. It had happened so many times before, she didn’t even know why she was surprised.

“It’s possible,” the Doctor allowed.

Rose sighed and held on tighter to his hand as they approached the festival gates. Experience told her that strange things sometimes happened when they showed up out of dress code. If they were going to be summarily ejected from the planet, she wasn’t going to let him out of her sight.

“Hi!” the Doctor said brightly. He handed a credit stick to the gate attendant. “Two all day tickets, please.”

The attendant smiled brightly. “Hi! Oh, a couple’s pass?”

She turned and dug in a box on the table behind her, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged a slightly confused glance.

“Yes…” the Doctor said, slightly hesitant.

The girl spun back around with something in her hands. “Brilliant. The best way to experience the Venusian Frost Fair is with a partner.”

She scanned a tag and handed the soft thing in her hands over to them. Then she scanned a single ticket and stamped both their hands.

“All set!”

Rose took the lump of fabric, afraid she knew what it was. She frowned when she realised there was only one garment on the table, however.

“What…” she muttered as she shook it out.

The jumper was extra wide with two neck holes. Rose stared at it for several moments, trying to work out what it was.

“How are we supposed to put this on? And… why is there only one?”

The attendant frowned. “It’s a couple’s jumper,” she explained. “You both put it on. One of you puts your left arm through the left armhole and the other uses the right.”

Rose looked at the jumper, then at the Doctor, then back at the jumper. “But… we can’t put this on over our jackets,” she said, hoping that would suffice.

The girl looked very confused now. “That’s why we have the coat check, just there,” she said, pointing to the very next tent. “The jumper will keep you warm enough without your coats. Holiday jumpers are a tradition at the Venusian Frost Festival. I would have expected you to know that.”

Rose glared at the Doctor. “Well, maybe if someone read the guide book, we would have been prepared.” She turned back and smiled at the girl. “I don’t suppose you have any… er, one person jumpers?”

The girl shook her head. “If you buy a couple’s ticket, you get the couple’s jumper. That’s how it works.”

The line of people behind them started to grumble, and Rose was near panic. There was no way she could share a jumper with the Doctor. Nearly every time they hugged, she had to remind herself not to turn her head and kiss his neck. If they were literally sharing an article of clothing, it would be…

She pressed her lips to hold back a whimper. It would be so _good_ it would be _bad._ Because until the Doctor made it clear he was willing to act on whatever was between them, Rose wouldn’t.

The Doctor took the jumper and guided her towards the gates. “We understand,” he promised the attendant. “We might not have been prepared, but we’re always willing to follow along with the rules.”

“Since when do you follow the rules?” Rose groused.

The Doctor looked down at her. Rose’s cheeks were red and she refused to look at him. The rosy cheeks might have been from the cold, but not looking at him was a bit… weird.

“Since when do you argue with the rules?” he asked, throwing it back at her. “It’s just a jumper. Come on, we can do it!”

Rose crossed her arms over the chest. “I don’t think so,” she said stubbornly. “I am not going to put that on.”

The Doctor looked at it. He couldn’t see what was so objectionable. Actually, as far as ugly Christmas jumpers went, this one was practically pretty. Reindeer frolicked across a white and black background in a classic Fair Isle pattern. The two neck holes and two yokes made it look a little different, but really.

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked finally. Rose pressed her lips together and he pouted. “Come on, please? I’ve always wanted to go to this festival and I’ve never gotten here at the right time. It’s a little hard to have a Frost Fair in the middle of summer, you know?”

Rose looked up at him, and he gave her his best smile. “So, since we’re here and it’s actually winter, I just… please? Wear the jumper, for me?”

She looked at the jumper, then at him, then back at the jumper. The Doctor held his breath, but she finally rolled her eyes and nodded.

“All right,” she agreed grudgingly. “But I want you to acknowledge that I protested. Later, if… Well, just remember that you insisted.”

He held his hand to his chest. “Scout’s honour,” he pledged. “Not that I was ever a Scout, or even a boy—not a human boy, at least. But I do have honour!”

Finally, Rose laughed. “You’ve got something,” she agreed, nudging him in the ribs. “Come on, let’s get this jumper on.”

They stepped into the coat check tent and handed their jackets over. The Doctor put the ticket in his trouser pocket and his sonic screwdriver in the other pocket. Then he held up the jumper.

“Oh.” He looked at it, then at the two women running the coat check. “How exactly are we supposed to get this on?” he asked.

They laughed, and one of the ladies came around the table. “First, you need to decide who’s on the right and who’s on the left. Are either of you left handed?”

The Doctor raised his hand. “Ambidextrous, actually,” he boasted. “Anything I can do with my right hand, I can do just as easily with my left.”

Rose made a weird choking sound, and he looked down at her. But she just smiled and took the right half of the sweater. “That works,” she said.

“You’re luckier than most couples. There’s usually one person left struggling all day,” the attendant said. “Now, as for putting it on. It’s best to put it on together,” she counselled. “If you each sort of slide your hand into your sleeve…”

She paused while the Doctor and Rose obeyed.

“And then pull the jumper up so you can tuck your head under the hem. The awkward part is getting your head through the neck opening, but…”

The Doctor grunted as he tugged the jumper awkwardly over his upper body. “Who came up with these things?” he grumbled. “Ow! Rose, watch your elbow!”

“Oi, don’t tell me to watch my elbows, you bloody alien,” she shot back. “You just smacked me in the eye. I’m gonna have a shiner when we get home.”

The Doctor heard something that sounded like the attendant was stifling her laughter. He quickly tugged and finally got his head through the neck hole and looked at her. As suspected, she had her hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” she said, though the laughter in her eyes told a different story. “It’s just always so much fun to see people put the couple’s jumper on for the first time.”

Rose’s head popped through the other neck hole. “I can imagine,” she said dryly. She took the tag for their coats and put it in her pocket. “Come on, Doctor. We’ve got a festival to explore.”

As they left the coat check, the Doctor automatically laced his fingers through Rose’s. Holding her hand felt a little different tonight, but he didn’t cotton onto why until Rose hissed and yanked her hand back.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” she muttered under her breath.

The Doctor felt his neck get hot. That… that was why it had felt different. He swallowed. Rose’s bare arm… Well, he’d touched her bare arm before, anytime they held hands when she was wearing a short sleeved shirt. But usually…

“Right, yes, sorry.” The Doctor tugged on his ear and then pointed towards the contest. “Hot chocolate?” he asked, feebly.

Rose rolled her eyes and nodded, and they started walking again. Only now the Doctor was excruciatingly aware of how close they were. They were always close, but they weren’t always wearing the same clothes.

Well. They’d _never_ done this before, actually. The wearing the same sweater thing. The walking side by side so closely that he could feel Rose’s chest expand as she inhaled thing. The feeling her bare skin against his with every step they took thing.

Oh. This had been a bad idea. A _very_ bad idea.

He looked around desperately for some kind of distraction. A cheery, candy cane striped booth caught his eye. “Ooh, come on Rose! There’s a hot chocolate stand over there! And then maybe we can go ice skating.”

The Doctor veered off to the left so quickly that Rose stumbled a little following him. She put her arm out for balance and ended up bracing herself against the Doctor’s back.

“Sorry,” she mumbled as she righted herself.

“No, that was my fault,” the Doctor said. “This is a bit like a three-legged race, isn’t it?”

His cheerful comparison eased the knots in Rose’s stomach. “A bit, yeah.”

He pointed to the booth on the opposite side of the green. “That’s where we’re going.”

The walk was much smoother with both of them knowing the destination. Ten minutes later, an attendant was handing them two steaming mugs of cocoa, piled high with whipped cream.

Rose tried to sip her cocoa as they left the booth and nearly spilled half of it down her front when the Doctor moved his arm at the same time, jostling her. “Stop,” she said forcefully.

“What is it?”

“We need to sit down if we’re going to drink this one-handed.”

He looked from his mug to hers, then met her gaze. “Ah. Good point.” He nodded at the pavilion only a few metres away. “Let’s find a table, shall we?”

They reached the pavilion without further incident, but sitting down to enjoy their drinks proved to be another obstacle. The only seating available was several long benches at wooden tables. The awkward dance they had to go through in order to sit down without spilling their drinks or accidentally groping each other would have been hilarious if it wasn’t so embarrassing.

Rose started tapping her toes while drinking her cocoa. The awkwardness—she refused to call it _sexual tension_ —was almost unbearable. And the silence that had fallen between them was only making it worse.

On the other side of the seating area, she saw another couple eating biscuits. _The best biscuits in the universe,_ she remembered.

“Hang on,” she said, looking up at the Doctor. “How do you know these are the best biscuits in the universe if you’ve never been here before?”

“Oh, they’re famous around the galaxy.” He tried to wave his right arm like he normally would to emphasise his point, and his hand brushed over her stomach.

Rose sucked in a breath, and watched in fascination as a dull red crept up his neck. “Blimey, this is harder than I thought it would be,” he muttered.

It was on the tip of her tongue to remind him that she had tried to warn him, but before she could say anything, a horn blared from across the green.

Rose peered over at the official looking person standing on a platform. “Attention!” they said through a bull horn. “The morning snowball fight will be starting in five minutes. If you are interested, please make your way to the park.”

The Doctor looked over at Rose. “Snowball fight?” It sounded like exactly what they needed to handle some of the… tension vibrating between them.

“Snowball fight,” she agreed.

Together, they scooted away from the table, bumping into each other multiple times along the way. Dozens of people were streaming out of shops and food tents, and they followed along, soon reaching the park.

The Doctor spotted someone else in the vest that marked official festival employees. “So how does this work?” he asked. “Are there teams? Rules?”

The woman smiled, and the glint in her eyes made the expression rather sharklike. “No teams. No rules. You’re in until you decide to quit. The last person standing wins.”

She took a tool that looked a little like a long-handled ice cream scoop out of her large bag. “You’ll need these, since you’re one-handed.” She dragged it along the ground, scooping up snow. Then she pressed the button at the top of the handle and the scoop closed briefly, revealing a perfectly formed snowball when it opened again.

With a flick of the wrist, she spun the tool around and flung the snowball at a nearby tree. Then she handed the scoop to Rose and got another one for the Doctor. “Any questions?”

“Brilliant,” the Doctor enthused. He hadn’t even considered how they would manage a snowball fight with each of them only having one hand free. _Well, since these bloody jumpers are apparently a tradition, it makes sense that they have a solution ready._

“We need to come up with a strategy,” he murmured to Rose as they walked into the park. “If we want to be the last ones standing…”

“I see a snowbank over there behind those trees.” Rose pointed off to the left. “We could make a fort of some kind in there.”

A snowball soared through the air, hitting Rose in the knee as she finished the sentence. Without a word, the Doctor and Rose both scooped up snow and flung snowballs off in opposite directions.

A flurry of snowballs flew in all directions across the park after that. The Doctor ducked and ran for the bank Rose had found, pulling her along with him. They stopped behind each tree to fire more snowy missiles at their opponents, but didn’t wait to see if any of them made their mark.

They were making their way across the top of a hill when the Doctor heard a snowball whistling through the air in his direction. He ducked instinctively, and as he did, his foot slipped.

He wobbled for a moment, but then Rose bumped him and his balance shifted. “Watch out!” he warned her, pulling her into his arms as they fell.

The Doctor’s shout was Rose’s only warning, and she still didn’t realise they were about to fall when he wrapped her in his arms. “What are you doing?” she asked, and then she felt gravity pulling her down.

_At least snow is soft,_ she thought as they rolled down the hill. She wrapped both her arms around the Doctor and held on for the ride.

When they finally stopped at the bottom of the hill, the Doctor was resting on top of her. “Are you all right?”

The Doctor sounded as breathless as Rose felt. She nodded, and despite her best efforts, her gaze dropped to his lips.

“Yeah,” she said hoarsely as she wrenched her gaze back up to meet his eyes again. “Yeah, I’m fine. You?”

The Doctor shifted his weight over her, and Rose bit her lip to hold back a moan.

“I’m fine. I mean, I say I’m fine, but I feel like my hearts are going a little fast and somehow I can’t breathe.”

Rose slid her arm around the Doctor’s waist and watched his eyelids flutter closed. “Yeah, me too,” she whispered.

The Doctor’s eyes opened and he studied her carefully. “Which part?” he asked. “Being fine, or the… other things?”

She smiled, letting the tip of her tongue peek through from behind her teeth. When the Doctor’s gaze settled there, Rose curled her fingers into his side and tugged him down on top of her.

“Other things,” she murmured. Their faces were only inches apart now, and the anticipation was killing her. “Doctor…”

He sighed. “Yes.”

And then, finally, his lips settled on hers. Rose moaned into the kiss, and his tongue slid into her mouth.

Her hand slid up through the neckline of the jumper to play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. The Doctor nipped her lip in retaliation, and Rose scraped her nails over his scalp.

“Rose,” he whispered, his breath hot against her lips.

“Been waiting for this forever,” she mumbled.

“Mmm… so have I. I just wasn’t sure you did.”

Rose opened her eyes. “You mean… We’ve both been waiting for the other to make a move?”

The Doctor rocked back slightly and tugged on his ear. “Ah… apparently?” He slowly got to his feet, helping Rose up as he went. He winked at her. “And all it took was a little push from a lucky jumper.”


End file.
